Ben Kaufman, a World War I Congressional Medal of Honor winner, today told a House subcommittee holding hearings on fair employment practices legislation that enactment of such legislation is necessary for national security. Kaufman, executive director of the Jewish War Veterans, told the subcommittee that an FEPC “can be as important to our country’s security as the North Atlantic Pact and the European Recovery Program.”

Will Meslow, general counsel of the American Jewish Congress, told the sub-committee that a fair employment practices law without enforcement provisions would be “counterfeit.” He cited FEPC acts in Indiana and Wisconsin as instances of “masterful inactivity” owing to a lack of proper enforcement features. Maslow added that discrimination cannot be eliminated “by giving out goodwill blotters and appealing to can’s humanitarian instincts.”